Secrets
by MarcoFreckledJesusBodt
Summary: Marco has a secret. A big secret. And he has to hide it from his best friend, Jean Kirschtein. However, it's difficult for him to do because they've been friends since a very young age and Marco just hates lying to Jean, and every time he does lie to him, he hates himself more and more. But little did he know that Jean was hiding the exact same secret from him. JeanMarco AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Marco has a secret. A _big_ secret. And he has to hide it from his best friend, Jean Kirschtein. However, it's difficult for him to do because they've been friends since a very young age and Marco just hates lying to Jean, and every time he _does _lie to him, he hates himself more and more. But little did he know that Jean was hiding the exact same secret from him.  
**

**Alright, so! This isn't my first time writing a fan-fiction, but it _is _the first time I've uploaded it to any kind of website, and it's also my first time writing an Attack on Titan fan-fiction. Also, this is actually based on a rp I was doing with a friend of mine, so I had a little difficulty putting it in the way it is. But I did try, and I hope you enjoy it! c:  
**

* * *

Marco let out a sigh as he sat down on the bench, having gotten fed up with standing around whilst waiting for his friend, Jean Kirschtein. If he was being honest, Marco actually thought Jean would've been there already since Marco was a little late.

But he wasn't there, and it made Marco wonder how late Jean was actually going to be. Because Marco would only be waiting for a while before actually leaving.

Jean was Marco's best friend- Actually, he was really his only friend. They had been friends since Marco could remember, and he really loved being around Jean. He could tell him everything. Well, almost everything. There were a few things he couldn't tell him. Like why he sometimes showed up with a few cuts and bruises. Or why he would sometimes would show up really _really _late without a good explanation as to why.

There was a good reason for it, Marco just couldn't tell Jean. Or anyone for that matter.

Marco Bodt had brown hair and brown eyes, and had freckles on his cheeks. That was...one of the things he hated about himself. People always made fun of him for it when he was younger. And ever since then, he had just hated them. However, Jean seemed to like them. He stood tall at 178 cm (5' 10'') and weighed 70 kg (154 lb). He was kind of person that would help _anyone, _even if he didn't know them. A kind-hearted person. He liked to wear slightly bigger clothes as they were more comfortable to him. Like right now. His over-sized sweater covered his hands and stopped just a little below his hips. And his pants, well, they were just some comfortable blue pants. Something simple.

However there was one thing about him that no one could guess just by looking at him. Marco wasn't _normal_. He looked and acted normal, but he really wasn't. He was... Well, even Marco didn't know what he was. But what he did know was that he wasn't normal. Because normal people didn't walk around with..."special abilities". He had no idea _when _it happened or _how _it happened, but it _did. _And the only thing he knew was that he couldn't tell anyone. Especially not Jean. Because he didn't want their friendship to be ruined since he _had _been lying to the other for quite a long while now. And if he did tell Jean, then his friend would either laugh in his face and say that it was a good joke, or he would freak out.

And Marco didn't want either of those things to happen.

People had big secrets that they didn't want to tell anyone, and that was Marco's. It was funny, really. To Marco, it sounded like some kind of superhero movie. The geeky kid gets certain powers, becomes the hero, and gets the woman of his dreams. That wasn't Marco, though. Okay, he was the geek, but he wasn't the hero.

However, he did occasionally find himself in fights. But he _could _still be classified as the good guy. Because they people that he got into fights would be known as the "bad guys". But it wasn't like he went around wearing a cape and tights with his underwear pulled over the tights. The freckled male watched a lot of movies and read a lot of comics.

He was sort of glad that he wasn't normal, but at the same time, he wasn't. Because he had to hide it from Jean and always had to lie to him, and Marco wasn't that great of a liar. But Jean seemed to believe him, so he couldn't really complain. That didn't stop him from feeling absolutely terrible for lying to his best friend about these kind of things, though.

The freckled male looked down at his watch after a while, only now just realizing that he had been sitting there for longer than he thought he had. Perhaps he should just go now since it seemed like Jean wasn't going to show up. '_Well...so much for spending the day together'_, he thought. Marco frowned as he continued to stare at his watch for a while longer before finally standing up and stretching, looking around to see if Jean _was _there. He couldn't see him, but he stayed for a few more minutes, really wanting to spend some time with his friend.

And it wasn't long before his best friend was running towards him, out of breath by the time he got to the bench. "Marco-!" He breathed. "I'm s-sorry, sorry I'm late, I got caught up in some business, y'know...phew!" He bent over a little to catch his breath fully.

Jean was _so _relieved to see Marco still there, still waiting. Marco surely put up with a lot from the man. Bless his soul.

Jean was different from Marco in many ways. Some little, and some big, and some he wasn't even aware of. Like how he was much like Marco, yet so different. He, too, was given "special gifts" that he can't share with anyone. Not even Marco. He could never explain why he was sometimes late, or often in a little bit of pain here and there. Even the occasional bruise came with a quick excuse like "I tripped down the stairs today". He was so good at lying that it became part of his personality.

So, yes, he was just like Marco, in that aspect, except Jean couldn't consider himself to be a "good guy". He had done many shameful things with his "gift". Bad things, he had even hurt people in unimaginable ways. Jean was a bad guy, but he would never let himself live with that title. He accepted that he surely wasn't using his ability for what is considered good or lawful, but never would he proudly call himself a villain as if he lived in a tacky superhero film. He loved those, oh yes. He was quite the comic and movie buff...perhaps that explained why he _always _found himself rooting for the villains.

He knew if Marco ever found out, he would be ashamed. Marco was like Jean's good conscious, whether he wanted it or not. Nonetheless, Marco was Jean's best friend and, while Jean had a good amount of friends, Marco was the only one he really hung out with.

"No. It's fine, Jean, I don't mind waiting. Um, did you _run _all the way here?"

"Huh? Nah, but the second I saw you I started runnin', in case you were about to take off. You sure you're not mad I made you wait so long? Next time I'll text you, promise." He nodded firmly.

Marco also nodded and smiled at his friend, placing his hand on his shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "I promise I'm not mad at you, Jean. Like I said, I don't mind waiting. Though...only for so long, of course. But I guess it was good that you started running because I actually _was _about to leave." He chuckled softly, removing his hand from the other's shoulder. Though, he was trying to figure out what exactly this "business" was. Jean never told him. And Marco always wanted to ask what it was. But, he never did, afraid that he might be prying into his personal life. And Marco really didn't want to do that.

However, every time Jean said that he had been taking care of some "business", Marco always just gave him a smile and nodded, as if knowing what this business was. And he didn't, and he really didn't want to ask him. But it was beginning to annoy him slightly. Why couldn't Jean just tell him what it was? Why did he call it "business"? It worried Marco slightly. Was it something bad? Was that reason why Jean was always showing up with cuts and bruises? He _hated _it when Jean kept secrets from him. But, he also hated keeping secrets from Jean.

This time, he was actually going to ask Jean what this business was. He was worried about his friend, not wanting to think that it was something bad. That it was the _real _reason why Jean was showing up cuts and bruises. Plus, it couldn't hurt to ask _one time_, right? Right. So, when they started walking, Marco just went for it and asked Jean what this "business" was.

Jean was still thinking about how Marco's touch was always so gentle and calming that he wasn't really paying attention. To anything. He loved Marco's touch. He smiled still, feeling his face heat up just a little. Though, all those feelings withered away in a snap when Marco asked the question. Jean had to force himself not to trip up or freeze in his step.

"Ah, y'know..." Fucking incredible, he couldn't think of a lie for this? A lie he had been using for so long? "Family stuff. Had to go pick up some medicine for my mom and it was a headache. The pharmacy got some stuff mixed up, you know how it is..." Okay, that wasn't so bad, and not a _full_ lie. His mom _was_ sick and Marco knew that because she had been that way for over a year. He felt guilty pulling that card but it was believable. It wasn't like he couldn't just use any other excuse. He didn't have a job, what he did _was_ his job. And if he said it was personal and didn't want to talk about it, it would only make Marco more suspicious and that was dangerous.

"You should've just stayed home then. I mean, family is more important. And we could've done this another day." He murmured, giving his friend a small smile. "But, I _do_ hope that your mother gets better."

"Marco, it's fine, trust me. It's been a while since we've done this anyway. Just the two of us hanging out."

"I know," Marco muttered. "I miss how things used to be. You know, when we were younger and we could tell each other anything. And we wouldn't leave each others side." He frowned, glancing down to his feet and letting out a small huff. It was true, they used to talk a lot before they had grown up and became more mature, but now that they were hiding a lot of stuff from each other, there really wasn't much that they could talk about. So, most of the time, they would just sit there in silence.

Jean was thinking the same. He missed how they used to be, truly. Well, this was nice, but it could be better. If he didn't have so much to hide, if things didn't change so suddenly. It was times like these he wished he could confess to Marco, and show him what he was capable of. But there was just so much that could go wrong, it was so unfair. He felt like he was drifting away from his best friend. He walked in silence for a long while, hands in his pockets, until he spoke up. "So, whatcha been up to lately? Anything exciting?"

"No, not really. What about you, have you been doing anything exciting? Have you been looking for a job?"

Jean cringed slightly, looking to Marco. "No... But I hope I can land one soon, I could really use the money." He said with a shrug, looking ahead again. "What about you, do _you _have a job?"

"I do, yes." The freckled male said with a smile, also looking ahead again. "At the bakery that's close to where I live. You know, the one that's actually called 'The Bakery'." He chuckled softly, looking at him. "And, Jean, if you ever need help with money, you know you can come to me. Especially since you're helping your mother."

"Ah. You know I could never trouble you with money." Jean really couldn't. Even if Marco would be willingly giving it to him, he'd still feel bad if he took it from him. But he had no problem taking it from other people when they were in high school. Jean had been the popular kid in high school. The one that was on the football team, had lots of friends, and could any girl they wanted. And he had also been a bit of a bully, though not as much as a bully as Eren Jaeger. It had been a while since the two had seen each other, and Jean still hated the little bastard.

Though, his hate had only grew in high school when he found out that Eren's sister, Mikasa, didn't return his feelings. Yep. He'd had a one-sided crush on Eren's sister. They weren't actually blood related - Mikasa had been brought into Eren's family when she was nine years old after her parents had died - but that didn't mean anything. They were still very close, and would protect each other like siblings should do. However, Jean _hadn't_ forgotten about his little crush, but he had blamed the entire thing on his hormones.

It was the way they were. They had _tried _forming a weird kind of friendship at one point, but it just didn't work and they went back to hating each other. Some people were just supposed to hate each other. Like Jean and Eren. Jean snapped out of his small reverie when Marco began speaking again, glancing to his friend.

"I know, but just remember that I don't mind, and I'm always here for you if you need me."

"And I'm here for you if you need to talk. I saw that frown you had earlier. Remember, if you need to talk, you can tell me everything." Jean muttered, and Marco made a small face, rubbing the back of his head. "I know, Jean." God, he really wished he _could_ tell him everything. But thanks to his stupid "special abilities", he couldn't. And he found himself lying more and more these days.

He _hated_ it.

After that small conversation, it went silent again, and Marco hated _that _even more. And he was pretty sure that Jean hated it just as much. Actually, it was beginning to make Marco uncomfortable. He tried to think of something to talk about...and failed. So, he stayed quiet for a while longer before eventually speaking up. "You know, I was going to ask you if you'd like to paint one of my rooms with me. I mean, it's not like we're doing anything out here, and I just thought it would be better than walking in silence." He said with a small chuckle, turning to look at Jean, who just smiled at him.

"That actually does sound better. And I wouldn't mind helping you, so how about we head back to your place and start painting?"

"Alright."

Was it going to be even more awkward once they were at Marco's house? Or was it going to be fine? Hopefully things would be fine. Because Marco really didn't want things to be even more awkward between the two of them. The brunet smiled back at Jean and then started heading back to his house, Jean always at his side with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Marco knew already that it _was _going to be awkward between the two once they were inside and painting the room. There wasn't really much to talk about when painting a room, and not to mention that Marco and Jean weren't talking as much lately. Things would be so much easier if he could just tell Jean everything. But, unfortunately, he couldn't. And thanks to that, they weren't as close as they used to be. _'This'll be fun',_ Marco thought sarcastically, looking down at the ground as they continued to walk. Thankfully, it wasn't that far away from Marco's house, and they were soon there.


	2. Chapter 2

Once inside of the house, Marco slipped off his shoes and jacket, turning around to look at Jean as he hung up his jacket. "Do you want something to eat before we start? You know that I don't mind making you something."

"Nah, I'm fine. Thank you, though." Jean smiled, also taking off his shoes and jacket. He then followed Marco upstairs as he rolled up his sleeves.

"It's going to take a while, I hope you know that."

"That's alright. It means we get to spend even more time together." _'Not talking', _he thought, glancing to Marco and giving him another smile when he turned to look at him. Jean had absolutely hated how things had became between the two of them.

Usually two friends painting a room would be fun, but for Marco and Jean, it would probably just be awkward. Everything else was already awkward between them. Even eating together was awkward for them, and they used to do that all the time when they were younger!

Jean was brought out of his thoughts when Marco was suddenly handing him a paintbrush and a bucket of paint, smiling at him. Jean immediately smiled back at him and took the items to begin painting.

"Are you alright, Jean? You keep going off into a daydream." Marco murmured, glancing over to his friend as he also began painting.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Marco. If anything was wrong, you know that I wouldn't hesitate before coming to you about it."

Marco immediately smiled more at that and nodded, now just focusing on painting the wall. And that was when it went quiet between the two again. There was nothing more awkward than painting with your best friend and doing it in complete silence.

Okay, there was probably a lot of other things that were more awkward than that, but still! It was _incredibly_ awkward. For Marco. The freckled male didn't know if Jean was feeling the same way, but he probably was since he wasn't even looking at Marco and he was painting the wall farthest away from him. And Marco couldn't help but frown at that. Maybe asking Jean to do this with him was a bad idea.

Jean was also thinking that this awkward. If they weren't hiding secrets from each other, then the less awkward this would be. But they _were_ hiding secrets. Everyone kept secrets, even if it was from their lover or their best friend. Or even their siblings. There were just some things that you couldn't tell anyone-

The shorter male was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something wet on his cheek, bringing his hand up to see what it was. When he brought his hand back to look at it, he just stared at the paint on his fingers for a long while before looking over to Marco, who had went back to painting the wall rather than his best friend. And he was smiling wide.

Smirking, Jean got more paint on his brush before walking over to Marco, quickly pulling him back to paint his nose.

"Jean!"

"Hey, you started it!" Jean laughed, then immediately stopped when Marco painted his nose in return. He scoffed, painting across Marco's forehead before backing up quickly, watching as his friend wiped off some of the paint from his forehead. He started laughing again.

Marco muttered something under his breath when Jean started laughing again, wiping at his forehead some more as he looked over at him. He then stopped and walked over, painting right down the middle of his friend's face. Then it was his turn to back up and laugh, covering his mouth.

"Marco!" Jean had to drop his brush to wipe paint off of his eyes. He laughed regardless. "Asshole." He said lovingly, and continued to wipe at his eyes even when Marco walked over and helped him.

"Don't be like that~" The freckled man said happily, quickly slapping Jean's painted-covered hands away when they came up to his cheeks. "Jean, that's not fair! I was _helping_ you!" He whined, looking at his friend, who was now grinning wide and laughing.

"I couldn't resist~"

Marco pursed his lips a little, looking down at his own paint-covered hands and then back to Jean, who was still laughing. He reached over and run his hands through Jean's hair, ruffling it up and covering it in paint. "I win."

"No, you _suck_!" The shorter of the two gasped, trying to get the paint out of his hair and watching as Marco only chuckled, going back to painting the walls. Going for Jean's hair just wasn't fair. And it was uncalled for. But Jean could do _a lot_ worse than that. Though, he had to think of an idea first. After trying to get the paint out of his hair for a while longer-and failing-Jean just went back to painting the walls.

However, after a while of painting, he finally thought of a way to get Marco back. He glanced over to his friend, grinning when he noticed that he had his back turned to him and was just focusing on painting the walls.

_Perfect_.

Jean quietly set down his brush and grabbed the bucket of paint instead. He then quietly walked over to Marco and didn't do anything at first, wondering if he really should do this. _'Yes. He put paint in my _hair_,'_ he thought, and nodded to himself before putting the bucket above Marco's head and turning it upside down.

The moment the paint came in contact with him, Marco dropped his paintbrush, quickly bringing his hands up wipe the paint away from his face. He then turned around to look at Jean, narrowing his eyes at his friend who seemed to have found it hilarious as he had his hands on his stomach, laughing loudly. The taller of the two walked over and wrapped his arms around Jean, immediately bringing his laughter to a halt.

His grip only tightened when Jean tried to get out of his hold. "Marco, c'mon! Let go!" He whined, placing his hands on his shoulder's and finally managing to push him off. However, the second he got him off, Marco done the exact same thing to Jean that Jean done to him. He poured paint all over him.

But the problem was that he didn't have any paint left now.

"That's what you get."

"You started it!"

"_You_ started it!"

"I meant that you started the _entire thing_."

"Oh..." Marco pursed his lips a little and then shrugged, which only caused Jean to laugh. It was times like these that made Marco feel like he _was_ normal. That he and Jean were just as close as they used to be, and that they weren't drifting apart. "Well, you're the one that put paint all over me, so... You're an idiot."

"It's been a while since I've heard you say that~" Jean laughed, trying to find something to wipe his face.

Marco smiled, shrugging as he set down the bucket of paint and put the two paintbrushes inside of it. "I'll call you it more often if you'd like~"

"It reminds me of how we used to be." He chuckled, and Marco immediately frowned at that.

"...I wish we were still like that."

"Yeah, me too."

Marco glanced up as he heard Jean walking around before looking back down at the paint, frowning more. He then stood back up, making a small face when he felt Jean's hands slick back his paint-covered hair.

"Don't look so glum."

"Sorry," he chuckled, gently slapping Jean's hands away and smiling at him.

"It's alright. What do you say we clean ourselves up?"

Marco nodded, placing his hand on Jean's shoulder as he walked by him and out of the room. He went to his bedroom and got some clothes for himself, and also some for Jean since he had left them there the last time he had stayed. Though, that had been a while ago. The freckled male jumped when he heard Jean's voice from his door, not thinking he would follow him. "You can go for your shower first if you want."

"No, it's fine. You can go for yours first. I'm going to try and clean up the paint that's on the floor." Marco murmured, pointing to the drops of paint that were on the floor before handing Jean his clothes and a towel, smiling at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now go for your shower before the paint in your hair dries up~"

Jean immediately took his clothes and thanked Marco before heading to the bathroom, closing and locking the door. He peeled off the paint-covered clothing and stepped into the shower to slowly and painstakingly scrub off the paint. He took a while in the shower since it was very difficult to get paint off of your entire body and out of your hair. Though, once out, dried off, and dressed, he looked and smelled very good. He discarded the paint covered clothes so they wouldn't get on anything and went back into the room, hearing Marco walk around in there. "You know, trying to clean the floor while you're covered in paint isn't a good idea."

Marco jumped again at the sound of his friend's voice, turning around to look at him and huffing softly. "I thought I would at least _try _and clean some of it up." He murmured, putting the mop back in the bucket and looking at Jean again with a small smile. "Can you do it while I'm in the shower?"

"Of course I'll do it! It's kinda my fault that this happened anyway." The shorter of the two chuckled and walked over to get the mop, watching as Marco left the room. He then heard the bathroom door close and lock, looking to the floor and letting out a long sigh as he began cleaning it up.

By the time Marco actually left the bathroom, Jean was sitting downstairs, watching TV. Actually, he was just flicking through the channels, not being able to find anything interesting to watch. When he heard Marco walk down the steps, he turned to look at him and smiled. "Hey, you look as good as new~" He grinned.

Marco rolled his eyes, but chuckled and smiled at him, running his hand through his hair to fix it as he walked over and sat down next to his friend. "So do you~"

"I know~" Jean smirked, and Marco shook his head, gently pushing him.

"So...now what?"

"I'm not sure," Marco murmured.

"You're gonna have to buy new paint." Jean chuckled, turning his attention back to the TV, leaning back against the couch. "How about we do something relaxing? Watch a movie, play a game..." He shrugged.

"I know, and it's your fault." The freckled male muttered, crossing his arms as he watched the other flick through the channels. He then uncrossed his arms and grabbed the remote from him to stop him from doing it. It kind of annoyed Marco when people done that. "But I think we should watch a movie. A game between us probably wouldn't end good."

"Alright, sounds goo- Wait, how is it _my_ fault?!"

"Because! _You_ were the one that poured the paint over me, so I poured it over you in return! If you hadn't of done that, I would still have paint."

Jean laughed quietly, shrugging as he got up to look at the few shelves of movies that Marco had. "It was fun. And you deserved it after putting paint in my hair. You don't do that to someone."

_'It was to lighten the mood and it worked,' _he thought, giving Jean a smile when he turned to glance at him. That was really the only reason Marco had started the entire thing. To lighten the mood. And, despite getting covered in paint, it was fun. As said before, it made him feel _normal. _It made him feel like he wasn't some kind of freak. Well, he was, wasn't he? Not everyone had the..."abilities" that Marco had. However, even though people didn't know he had powers, they still saw him as some kind of freak.

Though, that was in high school.

Marco was twenty-two now and could just forget about it. He didn't need many friends. So long as he had Jean by his side, he was fine. However, he _had_ made some friends when he was in high school. Actually, if he was being completely honest, he had only made _one_ friend. Armin Arlert. And Armin introduced him to _his _friends, Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman. And he would've introduced him to Jean, too, had the two not already known each other.

Armin was a kind person and would do anything for anyone, just like Marco. And he was smart, too. Again, just like Marco. The two were great friends, and the thought of Armin had Marco wanting to call him or something since they hadn't spoke since their graduation. He could do that tomorrow. Perhaps ask him to come to the bakery he was working at so they could just have a chat.

The freckled male was brought out of his reverie when Jean lightly tapped him on the head with the TV remote. "Earth to Marco~ What are you thinking about?"

"Hm? Oh, I was thinking about work. You should stop by during my lunch break tomorrow."

"I will. By the way, you don't mind watching _Kick-Ass, _do you?"

"No, of course I don't mind. I love this movie." He smiled, moving around a little to get comfortable as Jean set everything up and then pressed play. He plopped down next to Marco and sighed.

However, not even two minutes into the movie, Jean paused it and stood up, looking at Marco as he walked into the kitchen. "I hope you have popcorn," he called.

Marco looked over, watching Jean from the living room. "I do, it's in the cabinet to your left. You better hurry up, though, or I'm going to continue watching the movie without you."

"Dude, you better not!"

Marco laughed softly and shook his head, listening to the beeping of the microwave as he waited for Jean to return with the popcorn so he could play the movie again. And when Jean did return with a bowl of popcorn, he quickly grabbed some from it and then played the movie again when Jean got comfortable after a while.

The two of them were silent as they watched the movie, though would occasionally laugh at a few parts, or would have to pause it again so they could get more popcorn. Jean ate most of it _every single time_ the bowl got re-filled. That just wasn't fair. But Marco didn't say anything about it, and just let Jean eat as much as he wanted. Though, would try and get quite a lot for himself.

However, Marco soon stopped eating the popcorn since he had fallen asleep at one point, feet up on the couch with his head pressed against Jean's arm. And when he felt his friend leaning against him, Jean looked down at him and couldn't help it when his cheeks beginning to heat up slightly. "Marco?" He whispered, gently shaking him. He then chuckled when Marco just muttered something incoherent and moved around.

Looking around, Jean eventually found a blanket and draped it over Marco before picking up the bowl of popcorn and going back to the movie. Though he did turn down the volume, not wanting to wake his friend.

The only thing he could really do now _was_ to continue watching the movie since Marco had fallen asleep against him. And he didn't want to move, knowing that he would wake him if he did.

After a while, Jean started getting tired himself and instead of just waking his friend up so the two could get a comfortable sleep, he pulled the blanket over slightly so it was also covering himself and scooted down a little to rest his head against Marco's. And not long after that, he was also fast asleep, snoring softly with the bowl of popcorn sitting in his lap and the movie still playing.


	3. Chapter 3

Surprisingly, Jean was the first one awake the next morning. Maybe it was because he was uncomfortable, or maybe it was because the sun was shining in his eyes. He was sure it was a little bit of both. Stretching out where he was sitting, the twenty-one year old let out a quiet groan and then raised an eyebrow when he heard something hitting the floor.

He looked to the floor and then cursed under his breath when he saw the bowl on the floor with the popcorn now everywhere but inside the bowl. Forgetting that Marco was leaning against him, Jean quickly leaned forward and began picking up the popcorn, but looked to his friend when he heard him groan, now laying face down. "Oh, sorry, Marco. Forgot you were resting against me," he chuckled.

Marco opened his eyes and turned his head to look at his friend, brows furrowing in slight confusion. "What are you doing on the floor?" He asked, then peeked over to see what Jean was doing, blinking a few times when he saw the popcorn. Then he laughed softly. "I see you didn't eat all of the popcorn in _that _bowl."

"I didn't eat all of it any of the other times either!"

"Jean, you kind of _did _eat all of the popcorn every time we re-filled it."

The freckled male stared at Jean as Jean stared at him. He then laughed again as his friend went back to picking up the popcorn. He sat up and stretching, groaning as he did so. It was then that he noticed the movie was playing. Again. He let out a soft sigh and got up, switching off the movie and then the TV before making his way into the kitchen. "Jean, do you want something to drink?"

"Do you have coffee?"

"Do you have to ask?" Marco chuckled, glancing over to Jean when he walked into the kitchen with the popcorn, putting it in the trash before washing the bowl. "Why didn't you wake me up when you had noticed I had fell asleep?"

Jean dried the bowl and put it back where it belonged, leaning against the counter as he watched Marco make the coffee. He chuckled softly, crossing his arms. "I _tried_. But you just said something incoherent and continued to sleep, so I just let you be. And I would've carried you to your bed, but you're kinda heavy~"

Marco scoffed, throwing a towel at Jean and rolling his eyes. "You're the heavy one here, you stuff your face with all kinds of food. And last night proves it. I could hardly get any of the popcorn."

"Heeey..."

"You know I'm kidding," Marco chuckled as he turned to give his cup of coffee, giving him a soft smile, his smile only getting bigger when Jean smiled back. He took a sip of his own coffee as he glanced over to the clock. "...I have to go to work soon." He huffed, not really wanting to go. The freckled male was having fun just sitting in his house with Jean. But, if he wanted money, then he did have to work.

Plus, he _was _going to call Armin later and ask him to stop by the bakery so they could catch up. It should be fun. And hopefully it wouldn't be awkward since they hadn't seen each other in a while. Hell, he and Jean saw each other almost every day and things were awkward between them. Because of the secrets they were keeping.

Marco really did hate it, and sometimes he just wanted to tell Jean _every single thing._ But he couldn't. Unfortunately.

"Hey, you okay? You keep going off into a daydream."

"Yes, I'm fine. Are you still going to stop by the bakery today? We'll be able to spend some more time together. And I'm thinking about calling Armin to come by the bakery, too. It's been a while since we last saw him."

"Yeah, I'm still gonna stop by." Jean smiled at him from over his cup, then blinked when he mentioned Armin. "You're right, it _has _been a while since we've last saw him. I just hope Eren doesn't show up, too." He grumbled as he took another sip of his coffee.

Marco chuckled a little, remembering how Jean and Eren used to fight _all the time. _It had been a while since those two had seen each other, too, so hopefully things would be kind of fine. He doubted it, though. The two of them would still probably hate each other when they were old men.

He shook his head a little, then took another drink of his coffee, only just noticing the silence between himself and Jean again. Usually silence between two friends was comforting or it was just relaxing, but with Jean and Marco, it was just really awkward. And neither of them could think of something to talk about.

At the sound of a cup being set down, Marco raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Jean, who just smiled at him before nodding to the clock. "I gotta go now. I want to check up on my mom and go for another shower to make sure I got _all _of the paint off of me and out of my hair." He chuckled, patting Marco's back as he walked by him and then left the kitchen. "I promise I will stop by at the bakery later, though." He said as he slipped on his shoes and shrugged on his jacket, saying goodbye to Marco before leaving.

Once Jean was out of the door, the twenty-two year old immediately frowned and stared at it before letting out a sigh and finishing off his coffee. He then headed upstairs and decided to also go for another shower, figuring it would be for the best.

After he had gotten out of the shower, had dried off, and had gotten dressed into clean clothes, he cleaned up a few bits of the popcorn that Jean had missed. Then he just kind of...sat around until it was actually time for him to go to work. When it was time for him to leave, he made sure that he had switched everything off before putting on his shoes and jacket, grabbing his phone and keys before leaving, locking the door behind him. Then, he headed to the bakery, walking there since it wasn't that far away. And on the way there, he had called Armin, asking him if he would be able to come to the bakery just to chat and catch up, things like that.

Thankfully, he was able to, and Marco was really happy about that. He was glad that he could see the blond again, looking forward to catching up and finding out what kind of job he had gotten. And if he had a partner. Though, he probably wouldn't ask that since he didn't like asking questions that pried into a persons life.

He would always try and avoid doing that.

There was one problem, though. Armin didn't even know that Marco had certain "abilities", and he already felt terrible for hiding it from Jean. And he would feel even more terrible since he had to hide it from Armin, too. God, sometimes he really did just wish he could tell them. But he didn't want to their friendship, or be called a freak, so he'd keep it to himself for as long as he could.

.

.

.

It wasn't busy at all in the bakery, so there wasn't really all that much for Marco to do. There were plenty of cakes, muffins, pies, cookies, etc. So he didn't have to make any more, and whenever a customer would come in, he spoke to them for a while before they eventually had to leave. Then he would be alone again. Well, he wouldn't be alone because he obviously wasn't the only one working there, but still.

When Marco heard the bell ringing, he glanced up and then back down before looking up once more. He smiled wide when he saw Armin, moving to step out from behind the counter, hugging him. "Armin, it's been a while."

"It has," the blond chuckled as he hugged Marco back, then moved to sit down when he pulled away. He watched as Marco sat down across from him.

"Oh, wait. Do you want something to drink? Or eat?

"No, I'm fine just now, Marco. Thank you, though. Didn't you say that Jean would be here, too?"

"I did, yes." Marco nodded, moving the chair slightly closer to the table. "He'll be here soon."

Armin also nodded and smiled at Marco before clearing his throat softly, clasping his hands together. This only caused Marco's brows to furrow in slight confusion. "What is it...?"

"Well, you see, when you called me, I was with Eren. At _his _work. And, Eren being Eren, wanted to know who called me and why. So I told him that I was coming here, and...well, he's going to be here soon. With Mikasa. I tried to get him to stay at work because he and Jean don't get along well, but he insisted on coming, saying that it had been too long since we had just all gotten together." The blond let out a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his head as he looked at Marco. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind, Armin!" Marco smiled. "It'd be great to see Eren and Mikasa again. But I doubt that Jean will feel the same way. Like you said, Jean and Eren don't get along that well. And I think Jean also feels awkward around Mikasa since he had a crush on her-"

"He did?"

"Yes, in high school. He used to come to me all the time and just talk about her and how beautiful she was. He would get really flustered and couldn't concentrate properly when we were studying together." He laughed softly, as did Armin. "But, anyway. How have _you_ been, Armin? What have you been doing?"

Armin smiled, scooting his chair closer to the table before watching as Marco got up to serve a customer that walked in. "You can still talk, Armin, I'm listening."

"I've been fine. You know that after graduation, I went to university, and after that I tried to find a job. It took me a while because I couldn't find one that I actually liked, but I eventually got a job as a journalist. And I love it. Eren's the one that actually encouraged me to do it." He murmured, watching as Marco said goodbye to the customer and walked back over to their table. "I obviously kept in contact with Eren and Mikasa, like you done with Jean."

Marco smiled at him and nodded, leaning back in his chair slightly. "I wish _we _had kept in contact, though." He murmured with a small huff, looking down at the table before looking back at Armin, drawing invisible shapes on the table with his index finger. "And, do you have someone special in your life...~?"

Armin felt his cheeks heating up as he looked over at Marco, opening his mouth to say something, but closed it again when the bell rang, looking over at the door. He smiled as Eren and Mikasa walked inside and over to the table, Eren pulling two more chairs over so they could sit down. "Hey, Marco. Long time no see."

"Likewise, Eren. Would either of you like something to drink or eat?" Marco asked, then stood up to get Eren a coffee. And also to get Armin one since he changed his mind. Mikasa didn't want anything to drink or eat, though Marco had kind of guessed that before she had said she didn't want anything. Once had gotten the drinks, he made his way back over to the table, setting one cup in front of Eren and the other in front of Armin.

Eren thanked him and picked up his cup, taking a sip of his coffee as he glanced to Armin before looking at Marco. "What were you guys talking about?"

"I was asking Armin how he had been for the past few years." Marco smiled at him, looking to Mikasa, who was looking around the bakery. But she then looked to the window when she saw someone out of the corner of her eyes. And that someone, was Jean.

Marco also looked out of the window, making a small face. Maybe he should've called Jean before he showed up to let him know that Eren and Mikasa would be here. But then again, he probably wouldn't have had enough time. And plus, his reaction would probably be a little funny. But it would be hilarious to Eren because that's just how he was and he _loved _annoying Jean and making fun of him. Actually, he just loved pissing him off.

Jean had a smile when he walked into the bakery, but when he saw who was there, it immediately disappeared. And he turned around to leave. He wasn't going to sit with Eren and Mikasa. Not after what happened in high school with them. And he knew for a fact that Eren would bring up the topic of how he used to have a crush on his sister, and he really didn't want to be reminded of that. So, he figured the best thing to do was to pretend that no one saw him and just leave. _'Yeah, that's a _great_ fucking idea,' _he thought sarcastically, shaking his head and then opening the door again.

And just as he was about to leave, he felt a hand on his arm, preventing him from going anywhere. And he knew that it was Marco's hand because Marco was the only person that would _grab him_ to stop him from leaving. Great, now he _had _to sit with Eren and Mikasa. There wasn't anything wrong with Mikasa, it was just the fact that Jean had had a crush on her and just didn't want to see her again.

The shorter of the two had been looking forward to just spending time with _Marco_ and _Armin_. Not Eren and Mikasa. Eren was a dick, and Mikasa was, well, she was the girl that Jean had had a crush on her for a while in high school. And then he was completely embarrassed when he found out that it was a one-sided crush.

After that, he had tried avoiding both Eren and Mikasa. He had avoided Eren because he would've just laughed at him about the crush, and he avoided Mikasa because he _really_ didn't want to face her after confessing.

Jean let out a long sigh and turned a little to look at his friend, who was staring at him. "Why are you leaving?"

"Why didn't you tell me that Eren and Mikasa would be here?"

"_I_ didn't know. I only found a few minutes before they had shown up," Marco muttered, pulling his hand away to cross his arms over his chest as he huffed softly. "I promise, Jean, I really didn't know they were coming."

Jean stared at him for a long, long while before letting out another long sigh, brows knitting together. "...alright, fine, I believe you. And I guess I'll sit with you. But I swear to God, if Jaeger even does something that pisses me off, I won't hesitate to hit him."

"You won't hit him in the bakery."

"I won't?"

"No, you _won't_. Now, come sit down." The freckled male gave him a small smile, then smiled even more when he got one in return. He took Jean's hand gently and brought him over to the table, letting him sit in his chair since he now had a customer to take care of. Hopefully the others would just talk...or do something while he was dealing with the customer. Marco was sure everything would be _fine_ between them once they started talking.


	4. Chapter 4

Marco_ was_ wrong_._

Things weren't fine. No one was even talking! They were just sitting at the table in absolute silence.

He thought it was awkward when he and Jean were alone and weren't talking or anything, but he was wrong about that, too_. This_ was even more awkward.

And even when Marco _wasn't_ dealing with customers, they were still sitting in silence. However, Eren would occasionally say a few things to annoy Jean, causing the taller of the two to glare sharply at him. Other than that, it was _completely silent. _

Meeting with your friends after a few years was supposed to fun and everything, but this was just really, really awkward, and Marco didn't know what to do. However, when it seemed that no more customers were going to show up, his boss told him that he could leave early. So, instead of just leaving with Jean like he normally would've done, Marco asked the others if they would just like to go for a walk or something.

It would make it less awkward, wouldn't it?

God, Marco really _hoped_ it would. He slipped on his jacket and then made his way outside, holding the door open for the others and giving Jean another small smile when he walked past him. He stayed by Jean's side as they walked...still in silence.

Eventually Marco _had_ to speak up. "So, Eren! Do you love your job as much as Armin loves his?"

"Uh, why are you asking?"

"I'm just curious, but I'm going to take that as a 'no'." Marco chucked quietly, looking at the green-eyed male, who made a face. "And, do you have someone special in your life?" He asked after a while, figuring he should ask him too since he had asked Armin. And he didn't miss the look that the two of them exchanged before Eren looked at the freckled male, shrugging. "Maybe, maybe not. But I think Mikasa has someone." He grinned as he looked to Jean. "So you can stop crushing on her, horse-face."

"I'm _not_!" Jean hissed, really just wanting to hit him then and there, but he told Marco that he wouldn't, and he wanted to keep his word. Sure, Mikasa was still pretty and maybe Jean did remember how he used to feel about her when they were sitting in the bakery. But that didn't mean he still had a crush on her. Yeah, he thought she looked nice, and noticed that the only thing that she had really changed was her hair, having gotten it cut short. She still looked really..._hot. _

Okay, maybe he still had a little bit feelings for her, but it was _only_ a little bit. He'd gotten rejected by her, and he didn't want that to happen again. Though, he wouldn't actually tell her than he had some feelings for her this time. He'd been embarrassed once before because of her, he didn't need to be embarrassed again. And besides, Eren did just say that she had someone, though Jean was pretty sure that he was only saying that to hopefully make Jean jealous. And...maybe it worked a little bit. Because if she did have someone, then that someone was really lucky to have someone as beautiful as her. Jean used to think she was an angel.

But once he'd been rejected by her, that thought about her being an angel disappeared immediately. The rejection had hurt Jean a lot, too. Though, the only person that knew that was Marco.

The fact that he thought Mikasa was really hot couldn't be blamed on his hormones this time. Because he wasn't a teenager that would get turned on at just the _sight_ of breasts. Yeah, it was pretty embarrassing.

"So, when did you and Jean get together?"

That immediately brought Jean out of his thoughts and he glared at Eren again, though could feel his cheeks heating up slightly. He glanced to Marco, noticing that he was avoiding Jean's gaze and was also blushing faintly. He then looked back to Eren, shaking his head. "We're not dating, we're just friends. Why would you even think that?"

"You guys were holding hands in the bakery."

"That's because Marco was stopping me from leaving! We're really just good friends!"

"Sure. Good _friends_."

"Just drop it, Jaeger." Jean hissed, and Eren muttered a 'fine' before going quiet. Though, he didn't go quiet for long as he looked to Marco and grinned as he nudged him, pointing to Jean. "You could do better than him anyway."

Marco opened his mouth to say something, but Jean stopped him by standing between the two, grabbing his shirt. "What part of 'drop it' don't you understand? We're not dating, we're just really good friends. And not the kind of "good friends" that you and Armin are. I saw that look that you two exchanged when Marco asked if you were seeing someone. Now, shut the fuck up before I make you."

"Make me then."

"Stop it!" Marco moved between the two, placing his hand over Jean's to pry his fingers from Eren's shirt, but the shorter of the two immediately moved his hand away the moment Marco had touched. It was like he had been _burned. _Marco stared at him, brows furrowing in confusion. "What's wrong?"_  
_

"You're really hot..."

"I _knew_ it!"

"I didn't mean it like _that._" He hissed and glared at Eren again before looking back to Marco, placing his hand to Marco's forehead. "You're burning up. How long have you been feeling like this?"

Marco moved away from Jean's hand and let out a small laugh, waving his own hand as he started walking again. "I'm fine, don't worry!" He didn't feel too hot, and he didn't feel sick. It was probably just the weather that was making him feel hot. It didn't matter to him, because he really did feel fine. Thankfully for him, Jean decided to just let it go and started walking at his side again. However, after that, things went quiet again.

And he was kind of wishing that someone would just start talking about anything. Even if it was Eren assuming that Marco and Jean were dating. He didn't care what it was they were talking about, just as long as they were talking about _something. _

Jean didn't seem to care, though, as he was now thinking about what Eren had said about him and Marco. Yes, they were really good friends, and yes, maybe he had thought that he had feelings for him at one point. But, that was way back in high school. He had been a teenager who had raging hormones and didn't know if he liked girls or boys. Every teenager was like that, though, weren't they?

It was pretty obvious that it was women that he liked, as at the current moment he was staring at Mikasa. Or rather, her _ass_. Sometimes he still acted like he had raging hormones.

The brunet was so busy staring at Mikasa, and now _thinking_ about her, that he didn't even notice that the others had stopped walking again. But, when he heard Armin asking Marco if he was alright, he was immediately brought out of his thoughts and walked back over to his friend, frowning when he noticed him leaning against the wall. "Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I promise. I'm just beginning to feel a little hot, that's all..." Marco gave them all a smile and stood up straight, letting out a small sigh. What the Hell was wrong with him? One second he was fine, and the next he's really hot and feeling all of these different kind of-

_'Oh, no. Oh, dear God, no,' _he thought, cheeks heating up slightly. Marco had more than just one power. And something like this had happened in high school when he was getting the _other _abilities, powers, gifts - whatever you wanted to call them. See, he'd started off with one, but then got more the day he became sixteen. It was kind of like puberty...with powers.

But the last time something like this happened, it had taken Marco a while to actually get control of his powers, and he had to stay at home for a few days because of it. And it seemed like he'd have to do the same again.

Though, it could probably be something different, he couldn't really tell just yet. Hopefully, it wasn't his powers. And hopefully he wasn't getting any more, he already had enough. For now, he would just stay with his friends. Plus, Jean wouldn't really forgive him if he went home and left him with Eren and Mikasa. Besides, it was probably just the flu or something.

Marco looked at them for a while longer before beginning to walk again, still smiling. But Jean knew that Marco wasn't fine. He knew something was wrong with him, and he was worried for his friend. And if Marco was sick, he probably wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time with him, thinking that his friend would've preferred going to sleep if sick.

God, Jean really hoped he wasn't.

.

.

.

He _was_.

Jean came to the conclusion that Marco was sick. No matter how many bottles of ice cold water he drank, his temperature _wouldn't_ go down. And Marco would complain a few times about being hot, and would also stop walking for a while, the others patiently waiting for him. Eventually, they just decided to go to a park so that they could sit down for a while.

Despite the fact that Jean had offered to take him home, Marco wouldn't go. He was _fine. _Alright, maybe he wasn't fine, and he really shouldn't be _outside _if he wasn't going to be able to have control of his powers, but he just wanted to spend some time with his friends. Apparently he couldn't do that either.

Ugh. It was frustrating. At least to Marco it was.

He really wanted to go home, but he wanted to stay here with the others. Though, he knew that he would eventually have to go home soon. Perhaps he should just go home now. It would be better that way, and they could always meet up some other time. _After _Marco had managed to get his powers back in control.

Clearing his throat softly, Marco stood up from where they were sitting on the grass and looked at them others, giving them all a smile. "I'd love to stay out here with you all, but I think I should go home now. When I'm feeling better, we should meet up again." _'And hopefully it will be _less_ awkward,' _he mentally added. The freckled male brushed off his clothes and then said his goodbyes before walking away, fanning himself with his hand.

Jean glanced around the small circle before quickly getting up and following Marco. "I'm comin' with you. You're not leaving me with them. I mean, there's nothing wrong with _Armin_. It's just the other two I don't want to sit with." He muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"You don't have to, Jean-"

"I want to make sure you're okay."

Marco looked to his friend, smiling softly before looking straight ahead again. He knew Jean wouldn't have stayed there with them, but a part of him had hoped he would. He just needed to be _alone _to deal with his slightly out of control powers. With Jean there, he couldn't do that. But he didn't exactly want to tell Jean to leave him alone because with Marco "sick", they would be spending more time together. "Thank you, Jean. But I don't want you to get sick."

"I won't."

"You will."

"I _won't_."

Marco stared at him, only getting stared at in return. "Do you not want me to come with you or something? Because if you don't, just tell me, and I'll leave you alone."

"No, I do want you to come with me. I love your company, Jean. But like I said, I don't want you to get sick." He said with a small huff, going back to fanning himself. He would feel bad if he told Jean to just leave him alone without a reason. And he was already feeling bad about hiding a lot of other things from him. Like the fact that he had powers and got into fights with a lot of "bad guys".

That still sounded really ridiculous to Marco. When he was younger, he could only dream of doing things like that. But he was older now and had powers, and could actually do those kind of things. It was fun, but at the same time, Marco hated it. Mainly because of how many cuts and bruises he would end up with. And then he had to lie to Jean about that, too. God, Marco had lost track of how many times he had lied. And Marco wasn't one to usually lie, so that made things worse!

Marco snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking to Jean before looking to where he was pointing, only just noticing that they were at his house. Now, would he be able to get Jean to leave somehow, or would he end up leaving later? Knowing Jean, he was probably going to leave later. The twenty-two year old smiled a little and walked to the door, unlocking it and heading inside. All he wanted to do was sit in a bathtub full of ice.

That actually sounded like a good idea right now. But it probably wouldn't help.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink or eat?"

"I think I'm the one that's supposed to be asking that," Marco chuckled as he turned to look at Jean, taking off his jacket and hanging it up. He then shook his head as he slipped of his shoes. "No, Jean, I'm fine. I just need to change into clothes that are less...clingy. And maybe just sit by a window. I'd rather walk around naked, but you're here, so I can't." He joked as he headed upstairs to change.

And Jean _knew _that it was a joke, but he felt his cheeks heating up regardless. Because now the only thing he could see was Marco. _Naked. _And that was a bad thing because Marco was his friend_,_ and friends don't think about other friends that way! Sure, Jean would admit that he thought Marco looked good, but he was his _friend. _Thinking about him like that was just really wrong. At least Jean thought it was.

To get the image of Marco naked out of his mind, Jean just decided to look around at a few photos and some books, eventually no longer thinking about Marco naked. He raised an eyebrow when he saw a book that looked really, really different from the others. He glanced to the stairs and then turned his attention back to the bookshelf, taking the book out, opening it. Oh, it was a sketchbook. Jean didn't even know that Marco liked to draw, and he wished that Marco had told him sooner, because his drawings and sketches were really good.

Wait. Were those _criminals_? Why was Marco doing sketches of criminals-

"Jean!"

Marco's voice caused Jean to jump and drop the sketchbook, turning around to look at his friend, who was quickly making his way over to him. He watched as Marco reached down, picking up the sketchbook and closing it. "Where did you find this?"

"It was amongst your other books. Marco, why do you have sketches of criminals in that?"

"They're not criminals." Marco said quickly, keeping the sketchbook close to his chest as he stared at Jean.

Jean let out a long sigh, prying the book out of Marco's arms and opening it again. He handed it back to Marco. "Yes, they are. I've seen those guys on the news, Marco." That was a lie. He hadn't seen them on the news. He'd seen them in person. As said before, Jean couldn't be known as a "good guy". The only reason he..."worked" with them was because they understood him. And it was a way for him to relieve his stress.

Marco closed the sketchbook again and walked over to the couch, sitting down. He waited for Jean to do the same, frowning slightly when he didn't. "...every comic book needs a villain, Jean." He murmured, only causing Jean to look at him with a confused expression. He let out a soft sigh, patting the spot next to him before flipping through the pages. "I have an idea for a comic book and I figured that I could use real-life criminals as an...idea for what the villains could be like. Figure out what they look like, what kind of powers they have, things like that. That's why I have these sketches, Jean, and I'm sorry if I worried you."

The shorter of the two didn't say anything and just nodded, looking at some more of the sketches. He then raised an eyebrow when he came across a few sketches of himself, and Marco immediately took the sketchbook from him, cheeks dusted a soft pink. _Now _he remembered why he had put that on the bookshelf. He had been drawing Jean one day and Jean had stopped by that day, so Marco had just put the sketchbook in the first place he could find to hide it from Jean.

"More sketches for the comic book~?" He teased, and Marco pushed him gently.

"Shut up..."

Jean let out a small chuckle and rubbed the back of his head, his own cheeks heating up. He then went quiet as he started looking around the room, staying on the couch for a while before he stood up, seeing what time it was. "Ah, God. I have to go now to make sure my mom is alright. I'll stop by tomorrow to check up on you. See ya, Marco."

"Goodbye, Jean." The freckled male watched as Jean left, then let out a long sigh and got up, heading upstairs to his bedroom. He set his sketchbook down on his desk and then opened his window before taking off his pants and shirt. He then plopped down face first onto his bed, letting out a long,loud groan into his pillow. God, he _hated _this.

When his powers were beginning to get out of control a little, he was stuck in his house, he would end up really hot, and he actually didn't know how to deal with it. Plus, he didn't get much sleep either because of it, so that didn't help. It wasn't bad today, but Marco knew that it would be worse tomorrow. So, the best thing to do was to _try _and get some sleep.

And that was exactly what he done.


	5. Chapter 5

Days had passed and Marco still hadn't managed to get control of his powers. Sure, they weren't as out of control as they had been during high school, but that wasn't the point. It was still dangerous. And Marco didn't want to take the risk of going to work or meeting up with his friends. Who knows what could happen if he did?

So, until he had managed to get more control over his powers, Marco decided he would just stay in his house. And he didn't even tell Jean. His friend just thought he was going to work when he was supposed to. He thought he was fine. Because whenever he _did _see Marco, the freckled male would act the way he normally would, and wouldn't let Jean know that he was..."unwell".

Marco would have told Jean that he actually wasn't going to work and was spending his time in his house, but he didn't want to worry him. And, despite the fact that he _loved _spending time with his friend, Marco wanted Jean to stay away from him for a while.

It wasn't like he could say that to his face, though. That would just be mean.

And thanks to his powers, today was one of those days where he just didn't want to face _anyone. _His body temperature hadn't gone down at all, and all of his powers were just...all over the place. And there was really nothing he could do about it. He just had to stay in his house and _wait_. The thing that annoyed him the most was that he didn't know _how long_ he had to wait for.

Hopefully it would just be a few more days since Marco didn't like sitting in his house doing absolutely nothing. But today, he just had to deal with it.

At the current moment, Marco was just laying on his couch, adding some more detail to a few of his sketches - some of them being of Jean. He actually had quite a few drawings of Jean. It just...happened. The freckled male would find himself drawing Jean and then it just continued on from there. Of course, he had to hide them all from Jean himself. It wasn't like that was a hard thing to do because it really wasn't. Unless Jean started snooping.

And he had a bit of a habit of doing that.

Pulling his attention away from what he was doing when there was a knock on the door, the twenty-two year old set his sketchbook down and put it amongst his other books before walking over to the door and opening it. And he immediately wanted to close it again when he saw Jean standing there, not looking happy at all. "J-Jean! What are you doing here?"

"What are _you _doing here? You're supposed to be at work." Jean frowned, walking inside when Marco stepped aside to let him. He walked over to the couch and sat down, staring at his friend when he was sitting next to him. "I went by the bakery to see you, and it turns out that you're not even there. And haven't been since you said you started feeling ill. Marco, we're friends, why would you lie to me?"

"I-I didn't want you to worry."

"Well, it didn't work. Because I'm already worried. And if you're sick, then you should be in bed!"

"I could've been in bed and just came down to answer the door!"

The two of them stared at each other for a long, long while before Marco finally let out a long huff as he got up from the couch. "Alright, fine. If it'll make you feel better, I'll go to bed."

"And I'll stay here and make sure you're alright."

"You can't!" Marco said quickly, and let out a small chuckle when Jean only gave him a confused look. "I-I mean, you have your mother to look after. She's sick."

"And so are you."

"But, I'm not important-..." Marco stopped talking at the look Jean was giving him now. He looked kind of...angry. There was a long silence between the two of them before Jean brought Marco out of his daze by putting his hands on his shoulders.

"You _are _important, Marco." Jean whispered, brows furrowing slightly as he stared at his friend, moving his hands up to cup his face. "You're my best friend and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You made my life better. You're _very_ important. To me _and _to my mom. You've done so much for her. And when I'm around you, I don't want you to ever say you're not important. Hell, I don't want you to stay it when I'm _not _around you. Because it isn't true." He kept his voice to a whisper, looking into Marco's eyes for a long while before slowly pulling away, smiling at him. "Now, c'mon, your temperature hasn't gone down at all."

Marco followed Jean upstairs, looking down at his feet as he felt his cheeks heat up. But he also felt really bad. He was important to Jean - and Jean was important to him -, but he was lying to him. Lying to his best friend. The only person he could really trust. However, if he could actually trust him, then he'd be able to tell him _everything. _

It wasn't that he didn't trust him. He just didn't want Jean to see him as some kind of freak...or whatever Jean would see him as.

But, then again, maybe Jean wouldn't see him as a freak. Maybe he'd still want to be friends with him. Maybe he would find it cool. After all, Jean was into all of this superhero stuff just as much as Marco was. But he didn't want to take the chance. Jean was best friend, and he didn't want to lose him.

The sound of his friend speaking brought Marco out of his thoughts and he raised an eyebrow, watching as Jean opened his window. That really didn't help Marco. He'd already tried it. "You should go for a cold bath. Or shower."

"I've already tried it."

"Sit with a bag of peas or something on you."

"I've already tried that. Jean, I'm going to save you some trouble and tell you that I've tried everything you're going to suggest." He chuckled, walking over and opening his window wider as he gave his friend a smile. "...are you going to stay the night? I mean, you don't have to. And I can understand if you don't want. You have your mother to care for, so-"

Marco was cut off by Jean laughing softly, the shorter of the two walking over and patting Marco's shoulder before sitting down. "Yeah, I'm gonna stay the night. I mean, if it's okay with you. Though I'm pretty sure it is. Because if it wasn't, you wouldn't have asked. But I'm glad that you want me to stay over, I like spending time with you. And not to mention that I want to make sure you're okay." He smiled, his smile only growing when Marco smiled back at him.

The two of them went quiet once more, Marco laying on the bed and Jean sitting at the window, enjoying the fresh air. So long as Marco remained relaxed, he was fine and didn't have to worry about his powers going out of control again. "Jean.." He murmured after a while, opening his eyes to look at him. "Can you close the window? I'm getting kind of cold."

Jean nodded, doing exactly that and closing the curtains. He then sat down at Marco's desk. "You sound tired now."

"I'm a little tired.."

"It was me. I have the power to make people tired~" Jean joked, laughing softly.

Marco let out a small chuckle, but didn't find anything about powers funny at the moment. Especially when his were being stupid. "That sounds like it would be a boring power to have." He murmured, moving to climb under his covers as he looked over at Jean as he began spinning around in his chair. "You're going to make yourself sick."

"I am not." The brunet murmured, but stopped spinning around after a while to look at Marco. "Speaking of being sick, how are you feeling now? Do you think some sleep would make you feel any-..."

Jean immediately stopped talking when he noticed that his friend was already fast asleep. He chuckled quietly and got up, sitting down next to the freckled male before moving to lay down, just watching him. And then he realized just exactly how creepy that was, but his cheeks began heating up. He cleared his throat quietly and just stared up at the ceiling, letting Marco sleep.

And he stayed awake while his friend slept, not wanting to wake him since it did seem like he needed the sleep. Jean let out a small sigh as he rolled over onto his side to look at Marco again, loving how peaceful he looked. That was what Jean done for a long, long while before he eventually also fell asleep, face buried into his friend's hair, muffling his snoring.


	6. Chapter 6

It was some time during the night that Marco finally woke up. He stretched out on his bed before curling up, immediately moving closer to the warmth that was currently next to him.

_Wait_.

Marco slowly pulled away after a few minutes, his face heating up once he saw Jean fast asleep, now snoring loudly. That explained why the warmth had smelt like Jean. He cleared his throat softly before slowly moving to get off the bed, also making sure he was quiet as he didn't want to wake Jean. It looked like he had needed the sleep.

Plus, he also looked very peaceful and Marco really didn't want to wake him.

Once he was off the bed and out of the room, Marco let out a deep sigh, his face still feeling like it was on fire. He honestly hadn't expected to find Jean laying next to him when he woke up. He didn't mind, though. It was...comforting. The other's scent, his warmth. It just relaxed Marco and reminded him of how happy Jean made him. Though, he would like it if the two of them started spending more time together.

And sleeping in the same bed together, didn't count as spending time together. Well, at least it didn't count to Marco. He prefered it when they were _awake_, and spending time together. Sure, it was nice, but it still didn't count. And it was also kind of awkward.

Shaking his head, the freckled male headed downstairs and went into the kitchen to get a drink, but unfortunately for him, his powers decided to go even more out of control the exact moment he turned the tap on to get a drink of water. And one of the main powers Marco had was the control of the four elements; Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.

And thanks to those powers, he was now standing there with his torso and hair dripping wet. The moment it had happened, he quickly switched off the water. Marco let out a sigh and turned around, jumping when he saw Jean standing there. Oh God, had he just seen what had happened? Or was he half-asleep and wasn't really paying attention?

"Why is your shirt and hair wet?"

"U-uh... I was outside, and it's raining."

"No it's not. And even if it was, why would you go out in it? And why would you come into the kitchen instead of drying yourself off?"

Marco crossed his arms over his chest, mouth opening and closing like he was a fish out of water. He then let out a small huff, looking away from his friend. "Okay, fine. I was doing the dishes and accidentally sprayed myself.." He muttered, face heating up as Jean began laughing at him.

Well, at least he believed him.

The older of the two huffed again and pushed his way past Jean, heading upstairs to get out of his wet shirt. He walked into his bedroom and took off his wet shirt before grabbing a dry one and slipping on a dry one. God, this was a nightmare. Marco absolutely hated lying to Jean, yet he seemed to be doing it even more and more.

At least Jean didn't expect anything, that was good. At least it was to Marco.

Shaking his head, the brunet headed back down the stairs and saw Jean sitting on the couch, looking at one of Marco's books.

"You can read?" Marco asked with a chuckle, walking over to his friend.

"Oh, ha ha." Jean gently pushed the other and then turned his attention back to the book before setting it down on the coffee table. "...I think I'm gonna head home now."

Marco frowned a little, but nodded anyway. If Jean wanted to go home, then he wouldn't stop him. The freckled man wasn't that much fun away. "You don't have to-"

"It's getting late, and my mom will probably be wondering where I am. You should be back in bed anyway since you're sick." Jean muttered, standing up and stretching. He walked over and slipped on his shoes and jacket. "I'll come see you tomorrow to make sure you're okay." He said before saying goodbye and leaving.

Marco watched him and then let out a long groan, leaning back against the couch. Couldn't his powers just stop being...stupid for a day or something? It was beginning to get annoying, and he really didn't want to end up soaked again. It wasn't like he could do anything about it, however.

His powers would soon go back to normal. Or at least he hoped they would.

Shaking his head, Marco grabbed the book on the coffee table and put it back on the bookshelf before heading upstairs to his bedroom and immediately plopping down on to his bed. He grabbed the pillow that Jean had been using and took in the scent and warmth that was still lingering. And that was really all it took for him to fall asleep again.

.

.

.

The freckled male didn't actually sleep for that long since he'd gotten enough sleep earlier. He rolled over on his bed and stretched out, glancing to the time before looking up at the ceiling, not really having anything else to do.

After a while, he switched on his TV and began flipping through the channels before just keeping it on the news, wanting to know if there was anything new some criminals. And there was. There was a group of them, and apparently were dangerous. Well, they were, but they weren't to Marco. He could handle them easily.

And it wouldn't take long for him to find them.

So, once he had gotten dressed and put on his shoes and jacket, Marco left the house. That was one of the good things about living alone. He tended to leave his house very late, so it was good that he didn't have his parents asking him where he was going.

But he would admit that he missed having his parents doing that. They were just protective of him.

It didn't really take long for Marco to get where these "criminals" were hiding. Of course, to make sure that one saw his face, he had to wear a mask. Not one of those masks that Spider-Man had... Okay, it was a little like that. He had to wear a mask like that because if he didn't, people would be able to recognize him just by his _freckles. _

At least he wasn't wearing tights. Now, _that _would just be ridiculous, and very stupid.

The freckled male walked into the building and began looking around, brows furrowing slightly. With his powers slightly out of control, he probably shouldn't have came out and done this, but he wasn't just going to sit around and do absolutely nothing. He was the "good guy". And, plus, doing things like this was actually fun.

Well, it was until he got hurt. Which happened pretty much every time. It was his job to...get rid of criminals. And, yeah, he knew that sounded like some kind of superhero movie, but it was really all he wanted to do. Sure, it would take a while, but Marco wasn't going to give up. Not after he'd done so much.

The freckled male was brought out of his thoughts by something dropping to the floor and he immediately looked over in the direction of the sound, but couldn't see anything. But he knew that someone was here. He just had to...find them first.

Marco tensed slightly when he felt someone walking behind him and he quickly turned around before he managed to get hit. He grabbed the first thing to his right - a metal pipe - and brought it in contact with the other's legs, causing him to fall to the floor, groaning. Yes, Marco had powers, but it didn't mean that he use them all of the time. He was pretty strong when it came to hand-on-hand combat.

Plus, he really didn't want to risk using his powers right now. Not when they were out of control.

Instead of staying there and fighting, Marco ran off in search of something much more painful than a pipe. He didn't like hurting people, but if he had to, then he would. It wasn't like the people he hurt was innocent, anyway. The only thing that Marco could really use right now was actually a pipe, but he could also use his fists. Though, he'd probably be using the pipe more often.

The twenty-two year old quickly moved behind a column, staying there until the other man walked by him, raising the pipe down and then bringing it down on the other's head. Or at least he had been planning on doing that. But the next thing he knew was that the pipe went flying out of his hand, causing him to just stare at the other with slightly wide eyes.

That wasn't possible. He couldn't have done that. But he _did. _

So that meant that Marco wasn't the only one with powers, and it would be even more difficult to get this guy in prison. Well, this wasn't what he had expected.

Marco was quickly brought out of his daze when he felt a fist colliding with his jaw and he stumbled back, holding his jaw. Jesus... This guy could throw a punch. The freckled male immediately retaliated before reaching for another pipe, though it only moved out of his reach. Damn this guy and his telekinesis! It wasn't fair. Okay, it was fair. Marco had powers, this guy also had powers. But Marco didn't want to use his. So, it'd just be a hand-on-hand fight for Marco.

The fight actually went on for a while, maybe an hour or so, the two of them ending up with quite a lot of injuries. Though, Marco had somehow managed to get more than the other guy and had also ended up with a broken arm. Every single time he got into a fight, he tried hard to leave without many injuries, knowing that someone would question about them.

But apparently it didn't work this time.

At the current moment, Marco was back in his house, having already been to the hospital to get his arm checked and it was now in a cast. So, he'd probably be off work for even longer, and he also had to come with a lie to tell Jean, should he ask about his broken arm. And, knowing Jean, he would ask him about his broken arm. Marco looked into the mirror as he finished cleaning up the rest of his cuts, wincing and hissing whenever it stung.

He had been _so close _to actually getting the guy! And then he went ahead and broke Marco's arm.

Marco really hadn't thought that anybody else had powers like he did, but then he saw this criminal and what he was capable of. And Marco had to find him, though when his arm had healed, of course. But until then, he'd just leave catching the criminals to the police. For now, he just had to try and get some sleep. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work. He was just so distracted thinking about that criminal, and wondering who he was. Of course, he was like Marco and had refused to show his face.

However, the freckled male was 100% sure that he'd find out who he was soon enough.

Shaking his head, the twenty-two year old pulled the covers up over himself and then reached over to switch off his lamp before closing his eyes. It didn't take him long to fall asleep after that.


End file.
